Is pulling comparable sales an appraisal?

[Dale Floyd]

Points taken - But I was pretty clear about staying away from appraisalese verbiage.

If I understand correctly, the OP isn’t talking about bank clients. Desktops, or any other lending related forms, do not apply to non-lending clients. If a value conclusion or value range is warranted, one can do a restricted report I suppose. Trouble is - the differences between reporting lays only in the reporting itself - all else remains the same.

It isn’t up to us to decide what products the OP should offer in his/her area. If the OP wants to sketch houses, that’s not an appraisal. If the OP wants to do construction draw inspections, that’s not an appraisal. Pointing out the closed prices of sales, or the facts reported, is not an appraisal. Just be cautious in how it’s done.

I’m only giving advice, which is what was sought unless there is something I missed. I don’t see much profit in this however, because it doesn’t require the professional appraiser to do it. But to each his/her own.

 

[J Grant]

Without demand, there is little profit, and an appraiser not providing value...what demand is out there for a nonappraisal from an appraiser lol? Doing a sketch at least provides value, the appraiser has to go to the property, measure, and the user at least gets an accurate SF they can use for whatever purpose they want. Another relatively low-fee product but at least there is some demand, if limited demand for it

 

[ucbruin]

You can only hope that the sketch is accurate....

 

[residentialguy]

Good grief. You can pull best or most comparable comps. It's not an appraisal. In fact I'll go one step further. You could even find the best listing price to list a house at and not be an appraisal.

Oh, btw... nicer houses have a higher value than crapier ones. Guess what... I don't have a work file for that. Oh my!

 

[Digger88]

Thank you all for the replies, to those saying that it would not be an appraisal

"As defined in USPAP, an appraisal is the act or process of developing an opinion of value. The valuation process is a systematic procedure the appraiser follows to answer a client's question about real property value. The most common type of appraisal assignment is the development of an opinion of market value."

What gives me pause is the line "The valuation process is a systematic procedure the appraiser follows to answer a client's question about real property value." Even though I am not giving a value, I would be using a systematic procedure to answer my client's question about real property value.

I am looking to offer a service to sellers, buyers, or agents in my area where I just pull the most comparable properties and list how they are superior/inferior in GLA, site size, condition, quality, location, etc., without assigning value to the differences.

then get your realtor license.

 

[djd09]

be like them...the word twisters...dont pull up 'comparable' sales just provide sales 'data'

 

[The Bob]

If somebody asked me to pull the most comparable sales to a specific property and I pulled the top 3-10 comparable sales and supplied those, would that be considered an appraisal? I was thinking mostly of doing this to help agents, buyers, or sellers understand what properties compare to the property they are selling or buying. Would I be subject to the record-keeping rules? Would there be anything else that I should make sure I have done when doing something like this? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

You are filtering the data to provide a range of value. That's an appraisal.

An appraisal must be numerically expressed as a specific amount, as a range of numbers, or as a relationship (e.g., not more than, not less than) to a previous value opinion or numerical benchmark (e.g., assessed value, collateral value).

If you just supplied ALL sales from Morning Wood Acres between xx and xx, that would not be an appraisal.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

To point out that a sale is bigger or smaller in reported GLA is a statement of fact, and not an appraisal.

The key word is "benchmark" - if you are comparing it with a specific property or in a specific range, then you are deciding if lower or higher. and do I need to point you to the specific terms in USPAP? Page 3... " a relationship, not less than, not more than... or numerical benchmark..." Page 199, #29,

This is just the old "comp check" of yesteryear. And yes, you can do a Comp Check but there are hoops to jump through and it is an appraisal and needs to be workfile.

 

[JeffSH]

If you give this person all of the comparable sales, then it is not an appraisal.
If you give this person the best comparable sales, then it is an appraisal.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

If you give this person all of the comparable sales, then it is not an appraisal.

Right-o. If a client asks you to provide all the sales in a city or neighborhood, during a time frame, then I see no problem with it. But specificity of such sales would be an appraisal